Eoin McDonald (52), who has long since moved to Dunedin, clearly remembers those earlier times, growing up in Milton.
Life was good and those days have proved to be among the happiest of his life.
Then, as a youngster, he did not have to worry about keeping a roof over his head or putting food on the table.
One of his few concerns was "whether you got to watch Bonanza".
And then there was the reliable Milton summer: "I always remember it as warm".
When an Otago Daily Times photographer appeared during the summer holidays, in January 1970, Mr McDonald, older brother Alasdair, and their companions were "joking around" on a small boat.
The small boat they were carrying had been found on the banks of the nearby somewhat flooded Salmonds Creek, and was swiftly returned to the Hayes family, which included a young Juno Hayes, much later mayor of Clutha.
The photograph later reappeared in the ODT in mid-2011, as part of a historical series marking the newspaper's 150th anniversary.
Friends and family alerted him when it reappeared.
Years must be rapidly advancing when your photograph "starts appearing in the `from the archives' section", he joked.
More recently, it was his son, Calum McDonald (20), now undertaking holiday work at the Otago Museum, who told him the photograph was also featuring in an anniversary exhibition at the museum.
"Focal Point: 150 Years of the Otago Daily Times" presents about 160 ODT photographs and 15 copies of original front pages from across the years. The show runs until June 17.
Eoin McDonald, who these days is the ACC Dunedin branch manager, said it was "really nice" the historical exhibition had been organised.
"The ODT certainly marks an awful lot of our history," he said.
